Kash Patel and Utah Officials Announce Arrest of Tyler Robinson for Charlie Kirk Assassination in 33 Hours

[00:00] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We

[00:02] got him.

[00:04] On the evening of September 11th, a

[00:07] family member of Tyler Robinson reached

[00:09] out to a family friend who contacted the

[00:12] Washington County Sheriff's Office with

[00:13] information that Robinson had confessed

[00:16] to them or implied that he had committed

[00:18] the incident. This information was

[00:21] relayed to the Utah County Sheriff's

[00:22] Office and scene investigators at Utah

[00:25] Valley University. This information was

[00:27] also conveyed to the FBI. Investigators

[00:30] reviewed additional f video footage from

[00:33] UVU surveillance and identified Robinson

[00:36] arriving on UVU campus in a gray Dodge

[00:39] Challenger at approximately 8:29 a.m. on

[00:42] September 10th in which he is observed

[00:45] on video in a plain maroon t-shirt,

[00:48] light colored shorts, a black hat with a

[00:50] white logo, and light colored shoes.

[00:53] When encountered in person by

[00:54] investigators in Washington County on

[00:56] September 12th in the early morning

[00:58] hours, Robinson was observed in

[01:00] consistent clothing with those

[01:02] surveillance images. Investigators

[01:05] interviewed a family member of Robinson

[01:07] who stated that Robinson had become more

[01:09] political in recent years. The family

[01:12] member referenced a recent incident in

[01:14] which Robinson came to dinner prior to

[01:16] September 10th. And in the conversation

[01:19] with another family member, Robinson

[01:21] mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to

[01:23] UVU. They talked about why they didn't

[01:26] like him and the viewpoints that he had.

[01:29] The family member also stated Kirk was

[01:31] full of hate and spreading hate. The

[01:33] family member also confirmed Robinson

[01:35] had a gray Dodge Challenger.

[01:38] Investigators identified an individual

[01:40] as the roommate of Robinson.

[01:42] Investigators interviewed that roommate

[01:45] who stated that his roommate, referring

[01:47] to Robinson, made a joke on Discord.

[01:50] Investigators asked if he would show

[01:51] them the messages on Discord. He opened

[01:54] it and showed several messages to

[01:55] investigators and allowed investigators

[01:57] to take photos of the screen as each

[02:00] message was shown by Robinson's

[02:02] roommate. These photos consisted of

[02:04] various messages, including content of

[02:07] messages between the phone contact name

[02:09] Tyler with an emoji icon and Robinson's

[02:12] roommate's device. The content of these

[02:15] messages included messages affiliated

[02:18] with the contact Tyler stating a need to

[02:21] retrieve a rifle from a drop point,

[02:24] leaving the rifle in a bush, messages

[02:27] related to a to visually watching the

[02:30] area where a rifle was left, and a

[02:33] message referring to having left the

[02:35] rifle wrapped in a towel. The messages

[02:39] also refer to engraving bullets and a

[02:42] mention of a scope and the rifle being

[02:45] unique. Messages from the contact Tyler

[02:48] also mentioned that he had changed

[02:51] outfits.

[02:54] I know there has been speculation as

[02:56] well as to uh the the writing on those

[03:00] casings,

[03:01] those those uh those bullet casings. And

[03:05] uh I believe we have that as well and I

[03:09] will I will share that with you now.

[03:13] So the area north of Campus Drive Road

[03:16] where the suspect crossed over. You saw

[03:18] some of that in the video that we

[03:20] released last night consists of a grassy

[03:22] area with trees on the edge of the UVU

[03:24] campus. Investigators discovered a

[03:27] bolt-action rifle wrapped in a dark

[03:29] colored towel. The rifle was determined

[03:31] to be a Mouser model 9830 6 caliber 306

[03:36] caliber bolt-action rifle. The rifle had

[03:38] a scope mounted on top of it.

[03:40] Investigators noted inscriptions that

[03:42] had been engraved on casings found with

[03:45] the rifle. Inscriptions on a fired

[03:48] casing read, "Notices bulges capital O.

[03:53] What's this question mark?" Inscriptions

[03:56] on the three unfired casings read, "Hey,

[03:59] fascist, exclamation point, catch,

[04:02] exclamation point." Up arrow symbol,

[04:05] right arrow, and uh symbol, and three

[04:08] down arrow symbols. A second unfired

[04:11] casing read, "O Bella Chow, Bellachchow,

[04:14] Bellachow, Chow Chow." And a third

[04:17] unfired casing read, "If you read this,

[04:20] you are gay." L M AO.

[04:25] We are indebted to law enforcement uh

[04:29] across the state who has worked

[04:30] seamlessly together, local law

[04:32] enforcement, state law enforcement, and

[04:34] our federal partners with the uh with

[04:37] the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[04:39] We're grateful for everyone who worked

[04:41] together in uh in in such a short amount

[04:43] of time to uh to find this person and to

[04:49] uh and to bring justice. I want to thank

[04:51] the public who has been so engaged

[04:54] reviewing uh reviewing videos, re

[04:56] helping us with uh sending in tips and

[04:59] uh helping us get to this point.

[05:02] I want to thank uh the uh the family

[05:05] members of Tyler Robinson who did the

[05:07] right thing in this case and were able

[05:10] to uh to bring him into uh to law

[05:12] enforcement as well.

[05:16] I especially want to thank the family of

[05:21] Charlie Kirk, uh Erica, um Charlie's

[05:24] parents, his children. I want us to be

[05:28] thinking of them as we bring justice in

[05:30] this case. Um they will be involved in

[05:33] that justice. Uh we will be working very

[05:35] closely with them as we move through

[05:38] this process as well. This is a a very

[05:41] sad day for again for our country. uh a

[05:45] terrible day for the state of Utah, but

[05:48] I'm grateful that at this moment we have

[05:50] an opportunity to bring closure to this

[05:53] very dark chapter in our nation's

[05:55] history.

[05:57] With that, I will now turn the uh turn

[05:59] the microphone over to the director of

[06:01] the FBI, Cash Patel.

[06:07] >> Thank you, Governor.

[06:10] This is what happens when you let good

[06:11] cops be cops.

[06:13] The FBI and our partners are proud to

[06:15] stand here today together to bring

[06:17] justice to the family of Charlie Kirk

[06:19] and honor his memory. I want to express

[06:21] my deep gratitude to President Trump,

[06:23] the Vice President, and the entire White

[06:25] House who have been so incredibly

[06:26] supportive with both resources and just

[06:28] personally to the FBI as a team. They

[06:31] had our backs the entire way. And I just

[06:33] want to express my gratitude for giving

[06:34] us the resources we need to operate in

[06:37] this space to bring this sort of justice

[06:39] at this sort of speed. In 33 hours, we

[06:43] have made historic progress for Charlie.

[06:46] Governor Cox, our partnership has been

[06:50] absolutely incredible these last few

[06:52] days. Our partnership will endure. Your

[06:55] state and local partners, your sheriffs,

[06:57] your DPS community has been unbelievably

[07:00] impressive in the hardest of times. And

[07:03] a case like this cannot be solved. And

[07:05] we will lead out for the federal

[07:06] government. But Governor Cox, we are so

[07:08] grateful for your state partnership that

[07:10] led out on this investigation.

[07:13] A little bit of the timeline.

[07:15] Charlie was shot at 12:23 p.m. on

[07:17] Wednesday. The first FBI agents on

[07:20] arrived on scene in 16 minutes with

[07:23] chiefs of police at 12:39 and secured

[07:26] the scene. The FBI immediately launched

[07:29] fixedwing assets. We utilize these

[07:32] assets to transport personnel, specialty

[07:34] technicians, hostage rescue teams. We

[07:37] also utilize these assets to go back and

[07:39] forth from the east coast and here in

[07:40] Utah to transport forensic evidence and

[07:43] other evidence that will be analyzed and

[07:44] is being analyzed at our FBI

[07:46] laboratories in Quantico and other

[07:48] laboratories, including the ATF.

[07:50] At my direction, the FBI released the

[07:52] first set of FBI photos of the suspect

[07:55] at 10:00 a.m. local time on 911. Then

[07:59] shortly thereafter, the FBI reward of

[08:01] $100,000 was released at 10:45 a.m.

[08:04] local.

[08:06] Myself and Deputy Director Bonino

[08:08] arrived on the scene at approximately

[08:09] 5:30 p.m. on 911.

[08:13] The governor led a press conference last

[08:14] night at approximately 8:00 p.m. where

[08:18] at my direction, the FBI released a

[08:20] never-before-seen video of the suspect.

[08:23] We also released new images to the

[08:26] public of the suspect.

[08:29] And just last night,

[08:31] the suspect was taken into custody at 10

[08:33] p.m. local time.

[08:36] In less than 36 hours, 33 to be precise,

[08:40] thanks to the full weight of the federal

[08:42] government and leading out with the

[08:44] partners here in the state of Utah and

[08:46] Governor Cox, the suspect was h

[08:48] apprehended in historic time period. And

[08:51] I want to highlight what Governor Cox

[08:53] said. This would not have been possible

[08:54] without you, the media, and you, the

[08:56] public. That's why we went so public, so

[08:59] fast, and we're so transparent, and

[09:00] we're committed to that transparency.

[09:04] The crime scene, just a little bit

[09:05] there. It is a large crime scene. state

[09:08] and local authorities along with federal

[09:09] authorities process that crime scene

[09:11] quickly. And I even had the um

[09:16] ability to walk through that crime scene

[09:19] and walk through the steps the suspect

[09:22] took to learn more about what was needed

[09:24] and what resources we needed to bear to

[09:26] create a full picture for the FBI and

[09:28] leadership back in Washington.

[09:30] Furthermore, thankfully to state and

[09:32] local partners, forensic evidence has

[09:34] been seized and continues to be

[09:36] garnered. Forensic evidence has already

[09:38] been evaluated at FBI laboratories in

[09:40] Quantico and state local authorities

[09:41] here. We will continue to process

[09:43] evidence as we see it, as we collect it,

[09:46] and we will continue to deliver to

[09:47] Governor Cox and his team.

[09:50] Last night, we had a total of

[09:52] approximately 7,000 interviews, excuse

[09:54] me, 7,000 leads. As of this morning,

[09:56] thanks to your great work, we have over

[09:59] 11,000 leads that were called in to the

[10:02] FBI, and we are running out every single

[10:04] lead that we can. Every one of those

[10:07] leads will be run out.

[10:10] The arrest is a testament to dedication

[10:11] of good law enforcement being great and

[10:15] partnerships in law enforcement, which

[10:16] I've tried to highlight as my tenure at

[10:18] the director of the FBI. There is no

[10:21] better relationship for law enforcement

[10:23] than the FBI to partner with state and

[10:25] local authorities. And you've seen it

[10:26] here in these last few days. The FBI

[10:30] Salt Lake Field Office along with our

[10:31] offices in LA, Phoenix, Denver, San

[10:34] Antonio, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Buffalo,

[10:36] our headquarters component in Quantico

[10:38] all participate in the FBI. I want to

[10:40] express my deep gratitude to the

[10:42] employees of the FBI, the men and women,

[10:46] the evidence response team tacticians,

[10:48] the special operators, the agents, the

[10:50] support staff.

[10:52] You have done monumental work in

[10:54] historic time

[10:57] when the public who had a right to

[10:59] demand such an expeditious

[11:01] solving of an investigation.

[11:04] The FBI answered that call diligently,

[11:08] critically important to our nation, and

[11:10] we delivered. And I'm proud to be their

[11:12] leader, and I'm proud to be the director

[11:14] of the FBI.

[11:16] This is a very much an ongoing

[11:17] investigation, as the governor said, and

[11:19] we will continue to work with state and

[11:20] local authorities uh to develop the

[11:22] investigation, to provide them the

[11:24] evidence they need for their ongoing

[11:26] prosecutions. and we will be here to

[11:28] answer every call they absolutely have

[11:30] as long as it takes for as long as we

[11:33] need to find and apprehend whoever

[11:35] suspects were involved in this crime.

[11:39] Lastly,

[11:42] to my friend Charlie Kirk,

[11:45] rest now, brother. We have the watch and

[11:48] I'll see you in Valhalla.

[11:57] Thank you and good morning. I would just

[12:00] like to take a few minutes as as the

[12:03] sheriff to express my gratitude for

[12:06] everybody who has played a part in this

[12:08] investigation.

[12:10] As you know, it's been a vast a

[12:12] complicated and a very very fast-paced

[12:15] investigation. You're looking at people

[12:18] standing up here who are running on if

[12:20] they got an hour's sleep in the last

[12:22] couple days, they're probably lucky. Um,

[12:25] it has been very taxing. It has been so

[12:28] impressive speaking on behalf of the

[12:31] local law enforcement

[12:34] to see the cooperation that we have seen

[12:36] in this type of case. uh across the

[12:39] state, sheriffs, chiefs, um our our

[12:43] state partners have stepped up and have

[12:45] come to the call on anything that we

[12:47] needed. Uh our county chiefs have been

[12:50] phenomenal.

[12:51] Our Utah County Attorney, Jeff Gray,

[12:54] who's standing up here with us, has been

[12:56] phenomenal in leading us through this

[12:58] investigation.

[13:00] I would like to thank the federal

[13:01] government for for their resource

[13:04] resources, their assets. Our local team

[13:06] here, our FBI team has been

[13:09] extraordinary in helping us work through

[13:11] this and bring this person to justice.

[13:16] Most of all,

[13:18] I would like to thank the public and

[13:21] specifically

[13:23] I would like to thank the public who

[13:25] turned to prayers and who turned to

[13:29] positiveness for us. I would like to

[13:32] thank them on behalf of the law

[13:34] enforcement community because we needed

[13:35] those prayers. That's what we needed to

[13:37] get through this. We needed your support

[13:40] and you gave it to us. We needed your

[13:42] patience and you gave it to us. And I

[13:44] would like to thank you for the Kirk

[13:46] family because that's what they need is

[13:48] your support and your prayers and that

[13:50] will get us through all of this. So,

[13:54] thank you everybody for everybody that

[13:56] have stepped up. We've had such a

[13:57] phenomenal response to this. Thank you.

[14:05] I also want to give a special thanks to

[14:08] the attorney general and the department

[14:09] of justice. Their unwavering support and

[14:12] their commitment to justice is shown

[14:15] true here. And without A.G. Bondi and

[14:18] Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch and

[14:19] the resources they brought to bear, we

[14:21] would not have been able to complete our

[14:22] mission. And I just want to say special

[14:24] thanks. It's an honor to be a part of

[14:25] the Department of Justice.

[14:30] >> Thank you again uh to our incredible law

[14:32] enforcement team who has worked so hard.

[14:34] Um Sheriff, I got a solid 90 minutes

[14:37] last night, so I'm probably the most

[14:38] well-rested person up here. Uh, ladies

[14:41] and gentlemen,

[14:43] I uh I get the microphone. So, uh, I

[14:46] hope you'll permit me a moment just to

[14:48] share a few more thoughts about where we

[14:51] are and and how we got here and and uh

[14:54] and and maybe a little bit of where we

[14:56] go from here. Um, I I don't want to get

[14:58] too preachy, but I think it's important

[15:01] that we with eyes wide open understand

[15:04] what what's happening in our our country

[15:06] today.

[15:08] I' I've heard I've heard people say,

[15:10] "Well, why are we why are we so invested

[15:13] in this? There's violence happening all

[15:16] across our country." And violence is

[15:19] tragic everywhere. And every life taken

[15:22] is is a child of God um who deserves our

[15:26] love and respect and dignity.

[15:28] This is uh this is certainly about the

[15:32] uh the tragic death, assassination,

[15:35] political assassination of of Charlie

[15:37] Kirk. Um but it is also much bigger than

[15:42] an attack on an individual. It is an

[15:45] attack on all of us. It is an attack on

[15:50] the American experiment. Is is it is an

[15:52] attack on our ideals.

[15:57] This cuts to the very foundation of who

[16:00] we are, of who we have been, and uh and

[16:04] who we could be in better times.

[16:08] Political violence is different than any

[16:10] other type of violence

[16:12] for for lots of different reasons. one

[16:14] because in the very act that Charlie

[16:18] championed of expression

[16:21] that freedom of expression that is

[16:24] enshrined in our founding documents in

[16:26] in having his life taken in that very

[16:30] act

[16:32] makes it more difficult for people to

[16:34] feel like they can share their ideas

[16:37] that they can speak freely. We will

[16:40] never be able to solve all the other

[16:42] problems including the violence problems

[16:43] that people are are worried about if we

[16:46] can't have a clash of ideas safely and

[16:49] securely

[16:50] even especially especially those ideas

[16:54] with which you disagree.

[16:57] That's why this matters so much.

[17:03] over the last 48 hours.

[27:05] very eloquently about trying to reunite

[27:07] this country. Do you feel this is a

[27:10] watershed in American history?

[27:12] >> Uh I I absolutely believe that this is a

[27:15] watershed in American history. Yes. Um

[27:18] the question is what kind of watershed

[27:20] and that that chapter remains to be

[27:22] written. Is this the end of a dark

[27:24] chapter in our history or the beginning

[27:26] of a darker chapter in our history? We

[27:29] we've look I I mean if if you look at

[27:33] true political assassinations in this

[27:36] country of of someone of this stature um

[27:39] this feels a lot like the late60s um and

[27:42] and having one so gruesomely displayed

[27:46] uh on camera in all of our hands and in

[27:49] all of our pockets. We are not wired as

[27:52] human beings

[27:54] biologically

[27:56] uh historically. We have not evolved uh

[28:01] in a way that um we are capable of

[28:05] processing those types of violent

[28:06] imagery. And by the way, we've seen

[28:08] another one with a gruesome stabbing

[28:10] very recently that went viral. Um this

[28:12] is not good for us. It is not good to

[28:15] consume. Um, social media is a cancer on

[28:18] our society right now and I would

[28:19] encourage again I would encourage people

[28:21] to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a

[28:24] family member, go out and do good in

[28:25] your community. Uh, there are pe that is

[28:28] happening and it's happening organically

[28:29] right now. Had a friend in a in a small

[28:31] city in Utah who said, "We're we're

[28:33] we're getting together. The Republicans

[28:35] and Democrats in my little town are

[28:37] getting together to have a discussion

[28:38] tonight uh last night um just to find a

[28:41] way to to to find their better angels.

[28:44] So, so yes, this this could be I I mean

[28:47] you you know again you have to go back

[28:49] to JFK to to have seen a video live of

[28:54] something like this happening. Um I

[28:56] wasn't born until 1975, but but I know

[28:58] that things were really dark in in the

[29:00] late '60s. Sorry to some of you. I know

[29:02] some of you were there. Uh but but th

[29:05] this is the this is our moment. Um do we

[29:08] escalate or do do we find an off-ramp?

[29:11] And uh again, it's a choice. It's a

[29:14] choice and every one of us gets to make

[29:16] that choice. Two more questions. Two

[29:17] more questions right here.

[29:19] >> Could we clarify that the release of

[29:21] those enhanced images at 8 p.m. timeline

[29:24] the director Patel gave us led to the

[29:26] arrest at 10 p.m.? Is there a direct

[29:28] connection between those two events? I I

[29:30] cannot comment if there is a direct

[29:32] connection or not, but all I can say is

[29:35] that uh that that through some process

[29:38] the family

[29:40] came